Hamlet - Context Flashcards
What was the main literary influences of Hamlet? I.e Hamlet the story
The Historia Danica (1514) - Saxo Grammaticus
Histoires Tragiques (1576) - Belleforest
The anonymous play Hamlet (early 1590s)
Seneca on madness
(Latin version) those whom Jupiter wishes to destroy he first drives mad.
In the Elizabethan era you were not allowed to marry your brothers wife. Explain the history of this and the relevance of it in Hamlet.
Henry VIII married his brothers wife. The Protestant church declared his incestuous and so enabled Henry the VIII to invalidate his marriage and get a new wife. The importance of Shakespeare showing the next marriage was valid was that he acknowledged the legitamicy of the queen at that time (Elizabeth)s throne (Elizabeth was the daughter of Henry and Amberline).
Claudius and Gertrude’s marriage is presented as invalid and incestuous.
Who wrote ‘the fall of princes’ and why was it significant?
When was it written?
John lydgate - fifteenth century
Helped popularise the revenge tragedy (Senecan version)
Shakespeare changed the story of Hamlet from the stories of the plays predessors. In what ways did Hamlet change his play and what effect did these changes have?
Saxo Grammaticus’ Historiae Danicae showed a much more vicious Hamlet who purposefully killed Polonius, dismembered him and fed him to the pigs.
The murder in both belle forests and Saxo grams was wholly endorsed and commended
Who wrote the Spanish tragedy and when was it written?
Thomas Kyd
1587
When was Hamlet written
1598-1602
Who wrote Antonios revenge and when?
Marston
1600
(May not have influenced Hamlet but simply had common sources)
How was madness viewed in the Elizabethan era?
- madness was seen as amusing: men acting like animals
* it was a crowd pleaser to bring out a group of mad people on stage.
How does bedlam tie in to the contextual relevance of maddness?
Bedlam was a hospital for the insane but people could visit the hospital to experience the spectacle of madness.
Maddness was entertaining.
According to Elizabethan medicine, what was the cause of maddness?
Maddness was seen as the result of an imbalance of the four humours.
Too much melancholia caused depression.
What was the view of death and mortality in the Elizabethan era?
- death was viewed as mysterious
- the many plagues and lack of medicine around the time meant death was common and affected all kinds of people.
- death was ‘the great leveller’ because it came to both princes and paupers.
What was ‘the dance of death’?
A popular festival with dancing skeletons.
Detail the ways in which Henry the VIII banned Catholicism.
When did this happen?
1530s
- all church services had to be in English not Latin (Roman Catholic)
- people had to pledge alligience to the king over the authority of the pope
- the submission of the clergy (1534) - Henry VIII abolished the popes right to appoint bishops
- the dissolution of the monasteries (1535-1540)
- translation of the bible into English (the book of common prayer)
What was the reputation of Elizabeth’s court near the end of her reign?
During Elizabeth’s “second reign” repression of Catholics intensified and as a result the queen relied more heavily on internal spies and prosperity to maintain the illusion of peace and prosperity.
There was a political struggle in the privy council which meant an increase in patronage (over meritocrisy) and the queens personal authority was lessening.
